Montana State star quarterback Troy Andersen bursts through a hole in the Montana defense for a nice gain Saturday afternoon at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula(Photo: Garrett Becker/Montana State Athletics)

BOZEMAN — On Saturday, the Montana State Bobcats pulled off a victory over the Montana Grizzlies inside the hostile confines of Missoula's Washington-Grizzly Stadium that some are labeling as "miraculous."

On Sunday, they got their reward: A berth in the NCAA FCS Playoffs.

The Bobcats (7-4) will host the University of the Incarnate Word in the first round of the playoffs this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium.

The Bobcats reached that game after racking up 22 fourth-quarter points on offense, and recovering a fumble as time expired, to come back and beat Montana 29-25 Saturday. MSU quarterback Troy Andersen rushed for 107 yards and scored two of his three touchdowns in the fourth stanza.

MSU head coach Jeff Choate is just tickled to get another shot at coaching this season.

Montana State head coach Jeff Choate plans his next play against Western Illinois during an NCAA college football game at Bobcat Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, in Bozeman, Mont.(Photo: Rachel Leathe/Bozeman Daily Chronicle via AP)

"This is our routine; this is what we do as football coaches, as football players," Choate told Bobcats' radio announcer Jay Sanderson. "You celebrate a win Saturday night, blow it out of your system on Sunday, and go back to work on Monday.

"That's what we're going to do, (and I'm) excited to have the opportunity to keep coaching."

The Cardinals of UIW — based in San Antonio, Texas — went from 1-10 in 2017 to a 6-2 mark to win the Southland Conference championship (6-4) in just their second year of D1 postseason eligibility, according to the uiwcardinals.com website.

Choate and UIW mentor Eric Morris were assistants at Washington State under Mike Leach, so they're familiar with each other.

"Eric and I were on (Leach's) first staff a WSU," Choate said. "Our offices were close to each other. We spent a lot of time talking, and we had a pretty good relationship there."

Montana State inched higher in the the latest STATS FCS Top 25 poll, released Sunday. The Cats jumped from 25 to 23 after beating the Grizzlies, leap-frogging over No. 24 UIW. Other Big Sky Conference teams in the poll include Weber State at No. 3, Eastern Washington at four, and UC Davis in the eighth slot.

Undefeated North Dakota State (11-0) was the unanimous pick at No. 1, getting all 155 first-place votes. NDSU will host the MSU-UIW winner on Dec. 1.